Riding in Cars With Boys
by avalondutch
Summary: Why did Skittery agree to go on a road trip with the most annoying people on the planet?


Hey guys! Soooo this is my first fanfic on this site. It's just a short one-shot but I may eventually make it a chaptered fic if I gain the motivation and support I need. Let me know what you think!

~Avalon

Disclaimer: I don't own Newsies. I don't even own the title; that's from the Drew Barrymore movie. I guess it's safe to say I don't own anything. :(

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"Baby, you light up my world like nobody else! The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed! But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell, you don't know OH, OH! YOU DON'T KNOW YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL!"

"Mush, if you don't _shut up_ I'm going to play the Beatles!" bellowed Skittery from behind the wheel of his Jeep.

"Oh please be quiet, Mush. If I have to listen to 'Dear Prudence' one more time I'm going to pull out my hair," said Riley, Skittery's girlfriend. David snickered from the backseat. Skittery didn't know why he thought that was funny. He had told Dave to shut up ten times already. He had been close to changing the guy's name from the Walkin' Mouth to the Dead Mouth. He changed the station from the stupid British pop band whose name he didn't care to remember. Meeting disapproving groans from his passengers about the station he had put it to, he compromised on Kanye West and sighed in relief as the car was filled with nothing but the music.

Skittery didn't know why he had agreed to go on this road trip. Since he was one of the only one of his friends that actually had a car he had been volunteered to assist with the driving. Skittery loved to drive, but only when he was relaxed and listening to the Beatles, his all-time favorite band. But apparently the fact that he was basically chauffeuring his friends all the way from New York to Florida meant nothing to them, because he had to put up with Riley's Adele CD and Mush's Skrillex album. He wished it could be this silent the rest of the way to Miami. Skittery couldn't wait to be down there, where his friends Swifty and Pie Eater, who had gone to school at the University of Miami, were waiting for them. _Only a few more days_, he thought to himself.

"David and Mush, for the last time will you please close your legs?" whined Beth from the backseat. Well, there went the moment of silence. Skittery looked in the rearview mirror to see David and Mush slouching in both window seats, legs wide open with an unfortunate Beth squished in the middle.

"Aw come on Beth, we need breathing room," said David.

"For the boys," Mush said, gesturing to the appendage in his pants. Beth's face contorted into an ugly look of disgust while Riley laughed in the front seat.

"No obscene gestures in my car!" yelled Skittery, though he too was trying to keep from smiling in spite of himself. The boys' protests were interrupted by David's phone ringing.

"What's up? Okay…yeah, I'll tell him," said David. He hung up the phone. "That was Sarah. Jack wants you to pull into the gas station up ahead." Skittery nodded and veered right into the gas station lot. As soon as he put the car in park his passengers spilled out of the car, eager to stretch their legs though it had been only three hours since they had started out. As they ran for the convenience store Skittery slid out of his seat, thankful to catch a break. Next to him a big white van had pulled up, the door sliding open and its passengers piling out. Jack and Race had sprung for the rental of an eight-seater for the trip and were taking turns driving.

"Hey, Skittery!" yelled Spot as he helped his girlfriend, Christina out of the van. Skittery gave him a half-hearted nod.

"How's it goin'?" asked Jack, walking over to Skittery's car after he pumped gas into his car. Skittery glared at him and pulled a cigarette out of a box in his pocket.

"How do you think?" asked Skittery. He lit his cigarette and offered one to Jack who took it with mumbled thanks.

"Hang in there, buddy," said Jack.

"I'm not going further than Virginia today just so you know. I've had it up to here with Mush and Dave," Skittery lifted his hand so that it was level with the top of his head.

"Maybe Blink and Race want to switch with them," said Jack. Skittery shook his head vigorously.

"That's even worse," he said. Jack chuckled. Screams could be heard on the other side of the station, and the two boys turned their heads to see that a water gun fight had broken out. Jack gave a high-pitched laugh as Racetrack tried to hit their friend, Danielle,and ended up getting Jack's girlfriend, Sarah, on the back.

"Hey, I want in!" yelled Jack, abandoning both his cigarette and Skittery as he rushed to join the others. Skittery shook his head. You wouldn't think that these boys were twenty and twenty-one. But Skittery couldn't help but smile as Riley came out of the store, surprised to see the water fight, and ran away with a shriek before Kid Blink could shoot her. She came to a stop in front of Skittery and shook her head defiantly at him.

"Were you laughing at me?" She asked. Skittery smiled and nodded his head.

"As a matter of fact, I was," he said. Riley playfully pushed his shoulder and handed him a bottle of Coke. "Thanks babe," he said.

"You know, it's good to see you laughing. You've been moody since before we got on the road," said Riley.

"You obviously haven't noticed how dumb our friends are," said Skittery, trying not to be annoyed.

"I have, but the difference between you and me is that I think it's funny and you let it get to you," said Riley. Skittery rolled his eyes. "We're only in Delaware, Skittery. We still have a long way to go."

Skittery huffed.

"Why do you always have to be the voice of reason?" he asked, a smile coming to his face. Riley laughed lightly, a sound that always sent chills up his spine. She stepped in front of him and stood on her tip-toes, pressing her body on his as she kissed the tip of his nose.

"Where would you be if I weren't here?" she asked. Skittery wrapped his hands around her small waist.

"Probably off in a psychiatric ward after I killed Mush, crying my eyes out and talking to myself," he said. Riley smiled.

"I believe it."

Skittery leaned down and kissed her lips, the saccharine of the candy she ate in the car still fresh in her mouth. His hand traveled to the back of her neck and to her short red hair, lacing his fingers through her wavy locks. It didn't matter how bad of a mood he had been in before, with Riley in his arms everything seemed right.

"Skitts and Riley, get in the car now!" yelled Race. The couple broke apart abruptly. The others were running back to the cars, nearly falling over with laughter as the owner of the convenience store chased them.

"You're driving my customers away!" he cried. Skittery and Riley laughed as the kids yanked car doors open and hopped in.

After a minute of arguing, it was agreed that David would sit in the front with Skittery while Riley sat in the back with Mush and Beth (who needed the salvation of another girl), provided that she got the window seat. The next couple of hours proved to be more peaceful. Skittery had lightened up and was having a discussion with Dave about who was a better guitarist, Jimmy Page or Eric Clapton. Mush, being the little baby that he was, had tired himself out after the water fight and was now sleeping happily on Beth's abundant chest. Beth was absentmindedly playing with one of the curls on his head. Skittery smiled, thankful that they weren't doing their usual bickering. He suspected that by the end of the trip those two would be more than friends. As David prattled on about how Page's guitar playing in "Stairway to Heaven" was classic, Skittery's eyes traveled to Riley, who was biting her lip while reading a book. She looked up at the smile and her blue eyes caught his brown. He winked at her and she lifted the corner of her mouth before discreetly blowing a kiss and returning to her book. He kept his eyes on her for a few seconds more before tuning back into the conversation to counter David.

"Okay but Page was only inducted into the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame twice, and both of those times were with his groups. Clapton was inducted three times, one for being a solo artist too…"

Maybe this trip wasn't going to be so bad after all.

"Mush, take your hand off my boob!"

"Move over, you're squishing me, Beth!"

"When are we going to stop for a bathroom break?"

"Can we please change the radio station?"

Never mind.


End file.
